Week 1: Automation: Introduction, Economics of Automation,

Automation

The word ‘Automation’ is derived from greek words “Auto”(self) and “Matos” (moving). Automation therefore is the mechanism for systems that “move by itself”. However, apart from this original sense of the word, automated systems also achieve significantly superior performance than what is possible with manual systems, in terms of power, precision and speed of operation.

“Automation is a set of technologies that results in operation of machines and systems without significant human intervention and achieves performance superior to manual operation